sonicwfandomcom-20200216-history
Hitman 2 (2018 video game)
| released = 13 November 2018 | genre = Stealth | modes = Single-player, multiplayer }} Hitman 2 is a stealth video game developed by IO Interactive and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the seventh entry in the Hitman video game series and is the sequel to the 2016 game Hitman. The game was released on 13 November 2018 and was met with generally positive reviews, with critics considering it to be an improvement over its predecessor. Gameplay Hitman 2 gameplay is similar to that of the previous installment, being an action-adventure stealth-based game, as players control Agent 47, a contract assassin working for the International Contract Agency (ICA), in a third-person perspective, as he travels to various locations around the globe to eliminate high-profile criminal targets. The game features seven missions, which are set in distinct locations. Summarily, the missions of the game take place (in order) on Hawke's Bay in New Zealand; at a racetrack in Miami; the fictional area of Santa Fortuna in Colombia; the slums of Mumbai; a fictional Vermont suburb; the fictional Isle of Sgàil somewhere in the North Atlantic; and the fictional Milton-Fitzpatrick bank in New York City. The game introduces concussive gadgets, which can be used to render an NPC unconscious, and reintroduces the briefcase, which allows the player to conceal and carry large weapons, such as sniper rifles, in public without arousing suspicion. The game's announcement was accompanied by the release of a cooperative multiplayer mode titled Sniper Assassin, available immediately to those who pre-order Hitman 2. This mode is also bundled with all copies of Hitman 2 when the game releases. In this mode, players are tasked with eliminating targets using a sniper rifle within a set time limit. In addition to Agent 47, players can play as Knight and Stone, both of whom have access to unique ammo types. As with the game's predecessor, Hitman 2 features the time-limited "Elusive Targets" missions. British actor Sean Bean portrays the first Elusive Target in the game. Synopsis Chapter 1: Nightcall Following the events of Hitman, Agent 47 embarks on a mission to hunt the mysterious "Shadow Client" and disassemble his militia. His first lead is the location of one of the Shadow Client's lieutenants, Alma Reynard. 47 is able to gain some intel on the Shadow Client's activities from Reynard's home in New Zealand before eliminating her. Impressed with 47's performance, Providence authorizes him and the ICA to hunt down the rest of the Shadow Client's militia. When 47 asks Diana why the ICA would be willing to work with Providence, she replies that both organizations share interests in putting a stop to the Shadow Client, whose activities are now causing a global panic. She also reveals that Providence secretly promised to her to reveal 47's past. Chapter 2: The Finish Line Following the intel gained from Reynard, 47 is sent to Miami to assassinate tech giant Robert Knox and his daughter Sierra, the owner and heir of Kronstadt Industries. Not only have they secretly sold advanced weapons to war criminals, but they are also Providence members who defected to the Shadow Client's side, presumably to protect themselves from his attacks. Meanwhile, the remaining members of Providence descend into consternation as more of their operatives are killed worldwide. Despite this, Providence manages to identify the Shadow Client as Lucas Grey, the former head of security to deceased Providence key-holder Eugene Cobb. Grey, now located in Central Europe, pursues his own plans with hacktivist Olivia Hall and insists that they need 47's help if they are to dismantle Providence. Chapter 3: Three-Headed Serpent 47 heads to Colombia next in order to assassinate drug lord Rico Delgado and his top lieutenants, who have been using their smuggling network to aid Grey and his militia. Diana reports the mission's success to Providence while visiting the graves of her family in Surrey. Flashbacks reveal that she witnessed her parents being killed by a car bomb after they attempted to bring the company responsible for her brother's death to court. Shortly after Grey steals an item from the Ether Corporation in Johannesburg, his militia use a hostage situation to publicly reveal Providence's existence. Chapter 4: Chasing a Ghost 47 is then sent to Mumbai to track down and eliminate the pirates who killed a Providence operative in Shanghai. After the mission, 47 follows Grey's trail to Romania, back to the very same asylum where he was created by Dr. Ort-Meyer. He encounters Grey, who reveals that they were both previously kept in the lab to be raised as assassins for Providence. 47 regains some of his memories, remembering that Grey was Subject 6, and that they both made a pact to take revenge on those responsible for turning them into assassins. The revelation leads to Diana meeting with Grey and Hall in Berlin. Grey reveals that Ort-Meyer, the scientist responsible for his and Agent 47's creation, was a member of Providence, who are controlled by a leader known as "the Constant" and three executive members known as "the Partners." After Grey and 47's original plan to take down the Partners failed, they decided to erase 47's memories, though Grey was able to escape before his memories were wiped. Grey's current objective is to capture the Constant, as he is the only person who knows the identities of the Partners. His only lead, however, is that 47 knew the identity of the first Constant. Grey then reveals that the item he had stolen from the Ether Corporation was an antidote that may counteract 47's memory loss. Initially reluctant to work with Grey, Diana eventually abides by 47's wish to take the antidote. Chapter 5: Another Life The antidote allows 47 to remember that the first Constant was a legendary Cold War spymaster codenamed "Janus". In order to get close to Janus, Diana files a false report implicating Janus as the true Shadow Client while claiming Grey was just a subordinate, giving 47 pretext to infiltrate Janus' home in the suburbs of Vermont. Chapter 6: The Ark Society Investigating several clues, Agent 47 finds evidence that Janus was planning to meet the Constant at a gala held by "The Ark Society," a plutocratic survivalist group created within Providence. Hall is able to pinpoint the meeting location on a remote island in the North Atlantic, but they find out that the Constant, revealed as the man who hired Diana and 47 at the end of Hitman, has implanted himself with a suicide chip that will instantly release lethal poison into his body if he is compromised. 47 is then dispatched to eliminate Zoe and Sophia Washington, twin sisters and newly appointed chairwomen of the Ark Society who each hold a kill-switch for the Constant. Once the Washington sisters are neutralized, 47 and Grey proceed to capture and extract the Constant. 47, Grey, and Diana interrogate the Constant, pointing out that by being captured, his life is forfeit to the Partners. Defeated, the Constant reveals that Providence is made up of the Ingram, Carlisle, and Stuyvesant families, with each family having a representative that serves as a "Partner." As 47 and Grey head out to confront the three families, the Constant taunts Diana about what she does not know about Agent 47. A final flashback reveals that 47 was responsible for the car bomb that killed Diana's parents. Chapter 7: Golden Handshake With the Constant's intel on Providence, 47 and Grey begin their mission to locate the three "Partners" until Diana gives them an update. She tells them that Hall found recent obituaries for all three of them, and the group concludes that the Partners faked their deaths and plan on resuming their lives under new identities. The Constant, seemingly unaware of this contingency plan, tells 47 and Grey to follow their bank accounts, which leads the two to Milton-Fitzpatrick Bank in New York. New data regarding the Partners is uploaded remotely to the bank, but 47 and the group have a limited opportunity to gather that information. 47 must also eliminate Athena Savalas, the bank's director and a Providence operative, in order to contain the data breach without the Partners finding out. To retrieve the data, 47 can either infiltrate the vault and retrieve a data core or he can retrieve three backup data disks carried by Savalas and her subordinates: Fabian Mann and Mateo Perez. Once 47 has completed the objectives, he meets Grey outside the bank. Grey says that Hall found something interesting and that he will tell 47 on the way. When 47 asks where they are traveling, he replies "to paradise.” Release The game was announced on 7 June 2018 during a livestream by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Hitman 2 was released on 13 November 2018, although those who have pre-ordered the game's gold edition or collector's edition gain access to the game four days early: on 9 November. Unlike its predecessor, Hitman 2 is not episodic. The game has two planned paid expansions following its release, adding locations, missions, sniper maps, outfits, and weapons. Gold edition owners get both expansions included while silver edition owners get only the first expansion. The first DLC location, set in a bank in New York City, was released on June 25, 2019. An early bug in Hitman 2 release was the "homing briefcase", that when thrown at a target, the briefcase would spin and fly towards the target, even if the target moved around the level. While IO patched this out in later updates, the developers acknowledged the bug and added a special briefcase item in one of the challenges in a scenario pack, released on August 8, 2019; purposely, this briefcase item tracks the target it is thrown at around the level. Reception (PS4) 82/100 (XONE) 84/100 }} Hitman 2 received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. GameSpot gave the game a positive review writing, "Hitman 2 is a familiar experience, but in the Hitman world, familiarity is an incredible strength". The Verge also praised the game writing, "Hitman 2 is the most refined and rewarding game in the series" noting it was a flawless execution. The Guardian gave the game 4/5 stars, writing, "Assassination missions that reward subterfuge – such as wearing a giant flamingo suit or loosening a racing driver’s wheel – make this a surprisingly creative sequel." Sales Hitman 2 debuted at tenth place in the UK's all-format sales charts, selling 90% fewer copies than Hitman: Absolution. It released in a competitive week that also saw the launch of new releases including Pokémon: Let's Go, Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Fallout 76. Awards The game was nominated for "Control Design, 3D" and "Game, Franchise Adventure" at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards. References External links * Category:2018 video games Category:Action-adventure games Category:Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment games Category:Stealth video games Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games Category:Video game sequels 2 (2018 video game) Category:Video games developed in Denmark Category:Video games set in Colombia Category:Video games set in New England Category:Video games set in New Zealand Category:Video games set in Miami Category:Video games set in India Category:Video games set in Austria Category:Video games set in Singapore Category:Video games that support DirectX 12 Category:Windows games Category:PlayStation 4 games Category:Xbox One games